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    Am I doomed to cry....every single time?

    Posts: 678 Member
    edited December 2024 in Chit-Chat
    When I have to peel an onion? :sad: I have tried every single myth, old wives tale, you name it that I have ever heard and still the tears fall down. What are some of the dumbest things you've done to keep the tears at bay while peeling onions?

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    Replies

    • Posts: 1,039 Member
      Same for me. I just consider it a good sinus cleansing. :glasses:
    • Posts: 3,450 Member
      same here! I can not do it either! My favorite smell in the world is garlic and onion warming in some olive oil. Yummmm! So, I suffer through it. I generally have to cut with my eyes closed. lol

      One thing that does help somewhat is to freeze the onion ahead of time. Not days but just hours ahead. Then a super sharp knife.
    • Posts: 348 Member
      I put them in the freezer for about 7 minutes before I chop. No problem here.
    • Posts: 232 Member
      Well... you could get some of those chemistry goggles that are designed to keep fumes out... but wearing contacts works for me. :)
    • Posts: 678 Member
      same here! I can not do it either! My favorite smell in the world is garlic and onion warming in some olive oil. Yummmm! So, I suffer through it. I generally have to cut with my eyes closed. lol

      Do you still have all of your fingers??? :huh:
    • Posts: 1,314 Member
      I find that cutting the right end helps instantly, though it's rare I actually peel an onion nowadays. I cut the end off, stab a sharp knife through the centre and twist to cut bits off from the inside, out. So, I'm using the centre of the onion rather than the outer layers, Once I've got the amount I need, the whole remaining onion (skin still intact) goes in the bin.
    • Posts: 1,214 Member
      throw it in the freezer about 10 minutes before you chop, or keep them in your refrigerator. Something with the cold keeps you from tearing up.
    • Posts: 671 Member
      My grandma always recommended holding a wooden matchstick in your mouth while you're chopping an onion. I don't know why, but it has always worked for me, without fail.
    • Posts: 701 Member
      I have this problem too...sometimes my eyes still hurt/water HOURS later, after lots of hand-washing, etc. It's ridiculous. Several years ago, my mom gave me "onion goggles," but I don't know if they work because they don't fit over my regular glasses and bloody onions don't appeal to me.
    • Posts: 1,719 Member
      I just cut very fast then look away. I also think you get a little used to it later on.
    • Posts: 207 Member
      I do not cry much anymore...........use an incredibly sharp knife and work fast!!! my onion knife is almost sharp enough for my husband to shave with........

      Having sharp knives in my kitchen is kind of a thing with me.
    • Posts: 349 Member
      never had a problem until I stopped wearing contacts.

      I had heard having a piece of bread in your mouth but how do you not eat it! LOL

      The fridge/freezer method is the other thing I have heard.
    • Posts: 79 Member
      You know that hood over your stove? Put that on and cut your onion under it, that works for me.
    • Posts: 62
      Contact lenses work for me. But when I wear my glass there it goes waterworks again.
    • Posts: 131 Member
      In undergrad I had to purchase safety goggles (the kind that seem to suction to your face) for chemistry lab, and now I use those when I chop onions. I haven't had any problems! And my fiance loves to laugh at me when I'm wearing them. (:

      Here's what I'm talking about:
      http://www.officemax.com/office-supplies/breakroom-cleaning/safety-and-security/eye-care-protection/product-prod3660366?cm_mmc=Googlepla-_-Office Supplies-_-Breakroom and Cleaning-_-Safety and Security&ci_src=17588969&ci_sku=22158175&gclid=CMuo0YKqj7ACFWQ0QgodYiejnw
    • Posts: 8,856 Member
      Yes, you are doomed. I have tried swim goggles, burning a candle, and the list goes on.

      Here are my suggestions to REDUCE the tears (but not get rid of them altogether)

      1) Store your onions in the fridge
      2)Use a good sharp knife
      3) Chop fast
    • Posts: 58 Member
      Cut off the root end and the pointy top bit first, to a depth of about a centimeter, and throw them in the bin. Once they're out of the way, you should be fine to carry on. I usually then half it from root to tip and slice or dice each half from there. Only very rarely now do I get onion eyes.
    • Posts: 4,099 Member
      I chew mint gum and breathe through my mouth. Works most of the time. Also I cut on the kitchen table which is lower than the counter, and stand straight up so that my olfactory system is as far away from that tearjerker as possible!
    • Posts: 775 Member
      cold onions works for me .. no tears
    • Posts: 3,450 Member
      show previous quotes

      Do you still have all of your fingers??? :huh:

      yep! Cant say I havent gotten close a few times though.
    • Posts: 57
      My grandma always recommended holding a wooden matchstick in your mouth while you're chopping an onion. I don't know why, but it has always worked for me, without fail.

      ^^^This works.
    • Posts: 306 Member
      Wear swimming goggles.
      A swimming mask is even better because it covers your nose.
    • Posts: 6,349 Member
      The stuff that makes you cry is because it turns to sulphuric acid when it hits your eyes. So make sure it is captured by some other water before it reaches your eyes - chop them next to a running tap.
    • Posts: 8,059 Member
      Goggles are the only thing that works without damaging the onion. Freezing them and chilling them are both bad ideas, because the cold kills off flavor compounds in the onion. Same reason you don't chill tomatoes.

      Don't cut through the root, as that is where the majority of the sulphur compounds are.
    • Posts: 175 Member
      I wear glasses when cutting them. Usually sun glasses cos they're more wrap around and cover more of my eyes.
    • Posts: 1,063 Member
      Just chop it very very quickly before the Amino acid sulfoxides form sulfenic acids and then propanethiol S-oxide (from the alliinases enzymes) , propanethiol S-oxide is the stuff that makes you cry.

      Or one could denature the enzymes beforehand (boil the onion or go the other way.) although it does smell a bit but will not burn your eyes.
    • Posts: 503 Member
      Ha I was expecting this to say "when I step on the scale" or something lol.

      I do not like onions... So I don't have this problem! My mother used to make me peel them as a child, though. I always cried. Maybe it was also because I just didn't want to peel them, though.
    • Posts: 241 Member
      I put on sunglasses. Granted, I get a weird look from whoever walks in but hey, I know what I'm doing. :glasses:
    • Posts: 557 Member
      Guess I'm lucky, peeling onions doesn't bother me. Come to think of it, household ammonia doesn't bother me either.
    • Posts: 221 Member
      I just cut very fast then look away. I also think you get a little used to it later on.

      I do this too. Sometimes, if I'm in the mood, I peel and chop about 20 onions and pack them away into tubs in the fridge so that I don't have to keep doing it.
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